Star Gate

“How come you’re not saying anything?” Jiang Yingli asked curiously. “You’re almost an Apex, you should be able to talk. Although your bloodline is weak, the Monster Spirit Envoy knew how to transmit its voice at this level of cultivation. Is your voice not pleasant to the ear?”

“……” Panther couldn’t be bothered to respond and avoided the robot cat. It swiftly ran to Li Hao’s side. What were these guys doing out of the ruins? This wasn’t a good development. They weren’t afraid of it at all!

“Seniors, try not to speak when you’re outside. Everyone here knows you, but try to keep a lower profile when you’re out and about!”

“Don’t worry, we’re very subdued!”

Yeah right! Li Hao said no more and summoned his golden armor. “Let’s go to the Sky Sword Manor first!”

The rest of the group put on their armor without a word to conceal their identities. As for whether or not they would still be recognized, it didn’t matter if they were—with the exception of Chen Zhongtian. He needed to keep to himself to prevent anyone from picking up on his identity.

Chen Zhongtian was no fool, he kept a very low profile these days. He even had his son put on an expression that his old man was dead. His Saint-level weapon was no more, after all, a loss that might’ve been sensed by others. Therefore, he had Chen Yao pretend that his father was dead—possibly assassinated by Li Hao.

Of course, nothing was publicized.

The group didn’t keep to themselves. They soared out from the Skystar Commander Office, catching the morning sun’s rays with glittering golden and silver armor. They were a very conspicuous lot.

BOOM!

The six instantly vanished after creating quite a disturbance.

……

Not far away, the Ministry of Armed Forces.

Qi Pingjiang walked out and frowned. Li Hao had just returned from spending a few days in Silver Moon. Where was he going now? He didn’t take that many with him, however—less than ten. Yao Si and the like were still present, as was He Yong. Sky Sword and Earthturner Sword seemed to have gone with the young man.

“Have they discovered traces of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion?” Qi Pingjiang turned to the middle-aged man next to him—his son.

“Possibly,” Qi Dinghai responded. “Those from the Night Watchers and Skystar Commander Office have been investigating the faction lately…”

“Let them fight among themselves! There is more to the Wind and Cloud Pavilion than meets the eye,” Qi Pingjiang responded easily. “Don’t judge them for being new players, I suspect that they have far more Arcanus than we have estimated. If Li Hao really is going to go toe-to-toe against them and bringing just those people, he’s in for a huge surprise!”

“Does father think that the Wind and Cloud Pavilion can withstand them?”

“Why not?” Qi Pingjiang asked calmly in return. “They’ve plumbed the depths of so many powerhouses, do they dare casually announce their findings without having some real skill to their name? Won’t they be afraid of offending people? The Wind and Cloud Pavilion is just like Li Hao—a bunch of shitstirrers. They want nothing more than for the world to be engulfed by chaos.”

They were all the same.

“Father’s analogy… isn’t the best,” laughed Qi Dinghai.

“The entire dynasty is a cesspool!” Qi Pingjiang didn’t care. “There’s nothing good or bad about it. I am and they are as well. No one is better than anyone else. We were of a mind to clean up this mess back in the day, but we completely lost that desire long ago.”

Qi Dinghai couldn’t find the proper words and could only sigh softly.

Qi Pingjiang remained calm and looked at the royal palace, then at the Ministry of the Administration not too far away, and finally at the Inspectorate. “What are those guys at the Inspectorate doing? Even their Saint weapon has been destroyed. Has Chen Zhongtian been seen since?”

“No, Chen Yao’s acting like this old man has died. But if he really is dead, how can Chen Yao be so unmoved?”

“Perhaps… there’s another reason in play.” Qi Pingjiang furrowed his brows. “I hope he hasn’t reached an accord with the royal family. Chen Zhongtian rose from his origins as a thug to his current position. He wouldn’t die so easily. If Li Hao’s side is really that much stronger than him, he would surrender instead. He’s incredibly thick-faced and won’t be eliminated so effortlessly. We should keep an eye on the Inspectorate more often these days.”

“Mmhmm, I understand!” Qi Dinghai continued softly, “Father, the City of Supernaturals is going to hold a meeting in two days to establish a cabinet for their government. What does Lin Hongyu mean by this? She’s already reached an alliance with the Jade Flute and Sunset Mountains. If she continues to consolidate the forces of the twelve families and wandering cultivators, then she will be a tough target to take down.”

Qi Pingjiang inclined his head. The City of Supernaturals was not weak to begin with, not to mention that they were reinforced by two divine mountains now. Although the faction kept a low profile, they were quite strong. With these three striking up a partnership and then further consolidating the City of Supernaturals, she would absolutely be a force to be reckoned with after everything was said and done.

“Go create some trouble for them, but don’t invest too much into it. With the Skystar Commander Office in place, Li Hao does not wish for supernaturals to exceed their current placement in society. He might interfere, so let them fight amongst themselves!”

“But…”

“There is no but about this.” Qi Pingjiang frowned at the royal palace in the distance. “Our most pressing task at hand is not this. The royal family has sent word—they wish to work with us to dig a tunnel to the mines. Even if they don’t trigger the second awakening, they wish to seize more of the ores! These plant spirits have all set a high price for Water of Life. In contrast, the royal family is willing to pay a great deal of Water of Life for this operation. I’m debating whether or not to join them.

“Li Hao’s side is improving very quickly, but there’s a limit to his resources. It’s only a matter of time before the treasures that he’s seized are exhausted. The same goes for us. In all of Skystar, the greatest treasure is beneath our feet!”

They would receive large sums of benefits ahead of the second awakening if they could punch through to the mines. True, the nine ministries bore an immense grudge against the royal family, but the pressure was too great now. They would be flung far into the distance if they did not improve soon.

So, a partnership?

“Father, the one at the royal family is a peak Immortal!” Qi Dinghai protested. “The old Skystar King is also a seven element powerhouse. The Ministry of Administration has no fear, but father…”

He wanted to say that his father was a bit weaker and thus might find it difficult to secure benefits out of this situation.

“Everything will be fine before the passageway is complete.” Qi Pingjiang was well aware of his son’s concerns. “The Ministry of Administration won’t sit idly by either. It will take three or four plant spirits working in conjunction to take down the bramble rose. Therefore, he’ll only agree to the proposal if the royal family gets a few others on board.

“The Ministry of the Judiciary and Inspectorate are obviously struck from the list of possibilities. Internal Affairs is also a bit unstable and will be passed over. The Lius of Finance haven’t made a move in all this time. No one knows what they’re thinking, so they won’t be considered either.”

That left only five out of the nine ministries that were potential targets for partnership. Either they all worked together, or another one or two were eliminated from the group. There were also caveats to some of these ministries working together.

Li Hao had killed the current ministers of Examination, Foreign Relations, and Commerce. Perhaps the young man was more irritable in their eyes than the royal family. Hence, the royal family wasn’t haphazardly proposing a partnership at this time. They were making a calculated bet with the right timing.

If Armed Forces didn’t agree, they might be excluded from future operations.

“Then is father… prepared to partner with them?” Qi Dinghai asked solemnly. “The Skystar vice commander outside the mines is also strong. It’s one thing for our plant spirit to be involved, but are you going to fight yourself, father?”

“I’m not sure!” Qi Pingjiang shook his head. “We’ll see.”

“Then… when do you go?”

“In a few days,” replied Qi Pingjiang. “After Li Hao summons the Silver Moon powerhouses again and engages the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. That clash will not be resolved in a day or two, which will be the best distraction for us. If we go before that, he might seize the opportunity to capture the rest of you!”

They were on guard against Li Hao. The young man’s next target was uncertain as of the moment. Although he’d left, he might come back anytime. Nothing could be undertaken with peace of mind unless battle erupted in a certain locale. They would be at ease only after he was preoccupied elsewhere. Otherwise, Li Hao might really seek to take down the rest of the ministries in one go.

What would they be able to do then?

……

In the air.

Li Hao flew through the air and enveloped the rest of his people with his domain to ensure that everyone was traveling swiftly. Although it slowed him down, their overall speed was very fast.

The two puppets looked around curiously at the domain surrounding them. Being from Tranquil Star, they knew its ultimate arts well. They’d looked carefully at Li Hao when he first coalesced the supernatural characters. They were even more intrigued by his personal domain.

“Are you building a minor world?” Their knowledge ranged far and wide. Though they’d never seen this before and were dead on top of that, they could still identify key details with a glance.

“No, this is a personal domain!”

“I see!” Li Shengzhang responded, then hesitated. “But I sense that your domain is such a mishmash! I’ve heard the seniors of my family say that all things return to chaos. However, your miscellaneous collection of energy isn’t chaos, just simply a mess.”

“All things return to chaos?” Li Hao repeated.

“Yep!” Li Shengzhang’s energetic nod was slightly comical given her current outfit. “That was apparently how the Human King’s inner world was, but we don’t know if that was truly the case.”

Li Hao pondered their words, as did the rest of the group listen silently.

“Seniors,” a curious Deputy Zhou suddenly asked. “Is there a future in a dao of purely the physical body?”

“Of course!” It was Jiang Yingli who responded. “My forefather was a powerhouse of the physical body dao! Although he wasn’t on par with the exalted emperor of Capital Martial, his body was so strong that it was a rare sight among the exalted emperors.”

She glanced at the deputy amid her excited chatter. “So you can achieve nine revolutions of the golden body, that’s very impressive! Did someone change you through manmade means?”

“Yes.”

“Who did that?” Jiang Yingli was curious. “Although quite a few people know how to achieve that, they must’ve been an incredible powerhouse to do so for you in this time period. It can’t be someone from my family, can it?”

“……” Deputy Zhou coughed. “Probably… not?” How awkward would that be?